Privacy

Getting a self-hosted VPN up with a proper WireGuard setup usually means wrangling systemd services, firewall rules, and config files for half an afternoon. The hwdsl2/wireguard-install script changes that — one command, five minutes, you’re done. And it comes from the same developer behind the 28,000+ star IPsec/L2TP VPN server installer. What It Does This is a Bash-based VPN server installer that automates the entire WireGuard deployment on Linux. Run it once and it handles kernel module checks, package installation, firewall configuration (iptables/nftables), and client profile generation. Plus, it spits out a QR code so you can import the config into the WireGuard mobile app without touching a text editor. ...

Disclosure: Some links below are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. NordVPN — starts at $3.49/mo (2-year plan) Surfshark — starts at $2.39/mo (2-year plan) DigitalOcean — $200 credit for new users Your ISP sees every site you visit. Streaming platforms block entire countries. And somewhere in a data center, a server logs the fact that you connected at 2:14 AM. ...

Disclosure: Some links below are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Most DNS ad-blockers fall into two camps: the heavyweight (Pi-hole with its web dashboard, PHP backend, and dependency on FTL) and the bare-bones (a single hosts file slapped into dnsmasq). Blocky sits in that sweet spot between them — a Go binary, a single config file, and DNS blocking that supports DoH, DoT, DoQ, and DoH3 out of the box. ...

The European Parliament rejected Chat Control 1.0 this week. It would have forced Signal and WhatsApp to scan every private message. Quick verdict: it’s a genuine win for end-to-end encryption. But here’s the catch that almost every news outlet missed. Still, your ISP is watching. And the EU’s ePrivacy Regulation still lets them. What Just Happened With EU Chat Control Chat Control 1.0 was an EU rule. It would force messaging apps to scan all user content — even encrypted messages — for CSAM. So it sounds reasonable on the surface. But privacy researchers and EDRi spotted a big problem. ...

On March 27, the European Parliament voted down Chat Control 1.0 — the controversial proposal that would have required messaging platforms to scan private messages for illegal content. For anyone who uses Signal, WhatsApp, or a VPN, this is a major privacy win in Brussels this year. But here’s the part that most news headlines are missing: the rejection doesn’t mean surveillance stops. So it just means the battle shifts to a different front. ...

If you are reading this, you probably already use a VPN. Good. That means your ISP cannot see which sites you visit, and the websites you visit cannot see your real IP address. Still, here is the uncomfortable truth: in 2026, a VPN alone covers maybe 40% of your digital footprint. The other 60% leaks through channels most VPN marketing conveniently ignores. (And if you are still using a free VPN, the situation is worse — as we documented in our free VPN safety analysis.) ...

Most VPN users run the full tunnel. Every app, every browser tab, every background service — all of it goes through the encrypted pipe. Simple, safe, and slow. Split tunneling changes that. It lets you pick which traffic takes the VPN route and which goes straight to the internet. The result: banking apps that don’t flag you as a foreign login, streaming services that load at full speed, and encrypted protection for everything else — all at the same time. ...

Your ISP logs every domain you touch. Ad networks build profiles from your IP. And the VPN you pick to escape that is itself a product. Unless you pick Mullvad. NordVPN and Mullvad sit at opposite ends of the VPN spectrum — one is a feature-rich streaming powerhouse with 9,000+ servers; the other is a radical privacy tool that doesn’t ask for your email. And deciding between them isn’t about which is “better.” It’s about understanding your own threat model. ...

ProtonVPN is not just another VPN. Swiss jurisdiction, open-source apps, independent security audits, and Secure Core multi-hop routing — it checks a lot of boxes on paper. But how does it actually perform on a 1 Gbps fiber line in the middle of 2026? And does the Proton ecosystem (Mail, Drive, Pass, Wallet, Calendar) justify the $12.99/month Unlimited price tag compared to a pure VPN like Mullvad at $5.50/month? I ran a full five-node benchmark across Europe, the US, Asia, a Secure Core multi-hop route, and a free-tier server. Here is the data. ...

NextDNS Setup Guide 2026: Learn how NextDNS blocks ads, trackers, and malware domains at the DNS level for under $2/month — compatibility verified across Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and routers. Your VPN protects your IP address. And it encrypts your traffic. It keeps your ISP from seeing what you’re doing online. But here’s what most privacy guides don’t tell you: every time your browser loads a page, your device sends a DNS query — a plain-text “where is this website?” request — that can leak your browsing habits to your ISP, your DNS provider, and anyone else listening on the wire. Here’s the thing: a VPN encrypts your traffic after that DNS query leaves your device. But the DNS request itself? It may still travel in the clear, depending on your setup. ...